Art for a social cause
by HEATHER-LYNN EVANSON
heatherlynevanson@nationnews.com
IT WAS THE BEST of both worlds for lovers of art, artists and those with a social conscience.
On Saturday night, Dwellings brought together four young artists and four charities for its Splash – The Furniture Art Charity Event, at its Canewood, St Thomas location.
The fundraiser was for the Barbados RSPCA, Ark Animal Welfare Society, Variety The Children’s Charity and the Substance Abuse Foundation ( Verdun House).
It saw the four artists – Shane Eastmond, Alexander Marshall and Kevon “Von” Hall, who are part of 6PM Splash, and Alanis Forde – representing each of the charities and creating works on coffee tables as guests mingled and watched the creations unfold.
The completed pieces were then sold via silent auction and the monies raised donated to the charities the artists had selected.
All of them were enthusiastic not only about doing what they love, but painting for a good cause.
“I was pretty much game. This is just something that I love to do,” said Eastmond, whose work was for Verdun House and the Substance Abuse Foundation.
“As of this year I really set it into my mind that that is what I want to do for my life. This is how I eat. This is something I love to do and I am happy to do what I love to do,” he said.
Marshall, who was painting for the RSPCA, explained this was not the first live painting show the group 6PM Splash had done.
‘Live show’
“We do a live show where we paint live at Drift Lounge every last Friday of the month. So we just came together as artists and vibed and pushed a little momentum. I guess Dwellings picked us up and asked us if we wanted to paint – and for sure.
“And it’s all for charity and for a perfect cause, so we just came on board,” he added.
For Forde, the answer was “of course” when she was asked if she wanted to participate in the event.
The artist, who specialises in oil painting and who teaches at the Barbados Community College,
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KEVON ‘VON’ HALL doing his piece.
OFFICE MANAGER at the Barbados RSPCA, Charmaine Hatcher, watching artist Alexander Marshall creating his work of art on a coffee table. The sale of his artwork in the night’s silent auction benefited the
RSPCA. (Pictures by Heather-Lynn Evanson.)
ALANIS FORDE at work during the Dwellings event.
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was painting for Variety The Children’s Charity.
“It’s for charity and it’s a lovely event because you get people in Barbados to come out and see the artists, which doesn’t happen a lot. And it’s not the first time I did something like this,” she explained.
Hall felt right at home in the atmosphere on Saturday night.
Painting for the Ark Animal Welfare Society, he said: “I am a full-time artist and an atmosphere like this is very much natural to me. I am known for this kind of stuff.”
Marketing manager at Dwellings Inc., Ashley Millington, said this was the first time the home furnishing company had hosted such an event.
“We came up with a concept of a live event where we wanted to support four artists as well as local charities,” she explained. “We’re always about giving back and we wanted to show our support of art and the amazing charities.”
Millington added that coffee tables were chosen as the pieces for the art because “we thought it would just be a piece that would be easy to insert into your home as you’re buying the piece”.
SHANE EASTMOND doing his work for Verdun House.
MARKETING MANAGER at Dwellings Inc., Ashley Millington, speaking about the charity event.